Zimbabwe’s Ministry Of Cyber Security Makes First Arrest- An American Caught For Tweeting Mugabe As ‘Sick And Selfish’

Acitizenof the United States of America working in Zimbabwe has been captured by police for professedly alluding to President Robert Mugabe childish and selfish in a ‘retweet.’

In a report by Aljazera, the police captured the US native, Martha O’Donovan, for purportedly “annoying” President Robert Mugabe in a tweet she shared.

Martha had supposedly re-tweeted a post which obviously alluded to Mugabe as a “narrow minded man and debilitated man”, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), which is speaking to O’Donovan, said in a tweet on Friday.

As indicated by her legal advisors, Martha is the primary casualty of the nation’s digital law since the formation of the Ministry of Cyber Security.

The Magamba TV member of staff, was arrested on Friday, November 3, 2017 during a dawn raid on her home in Harare, the television station said in a statement.

Zimbabwe Republic Police “says Martha O’Donovan insulted Mugabe when she allegedly tweeted that ‘We are being led by a selfish man and sick man’“, ZLHR tweeted. The post shared by O’Donovan did not refer to Mugabe by name.

ZLHR also said on Twitter that O’Donovan is being charged with “undermining [the] authority of or insulting [the] president”.

Since the creation of the Ministry of Cyber Security in Zimbabwe in October 2017, Martha’s arrest is the first arrest.

The new ministry focuses on crimes on social media and the worldwide web in general, in advance of the 2018 presidential election.

Amnesty International condemned the arrest, saying it “marks the start of a sinister new chapter in the Zimbabwean government’s clampdown on freedom of speech – and the new battleground is social media”.